Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are neither a financial asset nor a legal means of payment, according to the decision of the IFRIC. It is reported by The Korea Times.
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At an IFRIC meeting this summer, cryptocurrencies were classified as intangible assets - identifiable non-monetary assets that have no physical form. The reason was that the cryptocurrency "can be separated from the owner and sold or transferred separately and it does not give the right to receive a fixed or determinable number of monetary units."
According to the publication, this decision of the organization will pose new challenges for the cryptocurrency market players who are seeking recognition of digital assets as legal currencies. In particular, the IFRIC interpretation will allow governments to create a legal framework for taxation, and companies to define corporate accounting rules for digital currencies.
IFRIC works with the IFRS Foundation, the nonprofit international organization responsible for developing a single set of global accounting standards. For more than 140 jurisdictions they are mandatory, a number of countries permit their application.
Recall, earlier in September, the international rating agency Moody’s announced that blockchain technology is more likely to be brought under common standards by 2021.